The Michigan D ly - Frda October . 19 'aithful travelers flock to study abroad fair Asma Rafeeq i ySt dReporter Paging through photos of mountains in Nepal, tening to Turkish music and hearing stories of Ilan villas, students wandered through the ichigan Union Ballroom yesterday to get a e of the University study abroad opportuni- ailable to them. Office of International Programs spon- red the annual Study Abroad Fair, which drew >re than 700 interested students. At the table about Japan study options, 3A senior Suma Kinhal spoke to students out her nine-month stay in Kyoto, Japan, st school year. "It's strange but I think I felt more at home there in I do here," Kinhal said. "The experience was really good for creating independence and self- reliance." The organizer of yesterday's fair. Kristin Stewart, said more students than ever are taking advantage of the University-sponsored programs to study abroad. A robust economy has meant that more par- ents and students have the money to invest in an overseas experience, Stewart said. The types of programs offered also have evolved in recent years, OIP Director Carol Dickerman said. The first University-spon- sored progrart began in the 1960s with an academic year in Aix-en-Provence, France. But there have been an increasing number of programs outside of Europe, as well as more semester-long programs. "The type of student who studies abroad has changed." Dickerman said. "It's no lo .er just for language stadents." LSA junior Andrea George. a film studies Con- ccntrato, said she came to the study abroad fair doubtful of finding anything relatel to her field of study but was excited to learn of a program at an Australian university with a large film archive. "It's more uplitiing now," George said. But organizing the fairand other information sessions for students thinking of studying abroad weren't the only activities keeping the OIP staff busy recently. With the recent threat of a volcano eruption in Quito, Ecuador, QIP staff sprung into action to assure that students studying there were safe. When the yellow alert indicating caution changed last week to at onge alert indicating a possible eruption, the ofice itmmecdiocly citnacted Unisersity students ulho are studying there The I niversity detemined ;hit tw o of the stu- dents in Quio arc lisiig in aris deemed to be dangerous because of the possibility of lall-olit and landslides from an ermption of the tearby Guagua Pichincha vsleano. But Dickerman s.iid arrangcments already had been made for the students to move with their host familtes to safer areas in case the vol- cano does erupt. To help ensure the safety of its participants, every University-sponsored program has on-loca- tion support staffmembers who are in contact'with the United States embassy and local police, said GIP Assistant Director Jordan Pollack. Dickertvn ssid site immttclyl coiitced pirents of the students studsing i Icuidii but ouid thiat they had been iiin touch s ith thei ciii dren and scire reassuired md ctlm about he sit uation the oritage ilert iin [cuador his sitmce dossnshitied to a yellow alert. "Our first pnority is their safety " Pollack said. When an earthquake struck Kobe. pan., a few years ago, Pollack said within two hours le knew via e-mail that the Um1tiersity studcnt studving there was safe, Due to safety concerns, the OIP ofice: does not offer programs in some countnes that are polii- cally unstable, Pollack said. Still, the tnisersav offers more than 75 progranms in ob countrics on six continents, the newest additions beng year- long and semester programs in South Afric. IEEMAN tinued from Page 1 losers? Never before have both teams been . They've played games in which th teams were 2-0, or 3-0, but ichigan and Michigan State have ver before met each other on such s. Which might make this game even rucial for Spartans' fans. This is i biggest game every year. For 'chigan, it can be less important - t look at it like this. If (and this is a Paul Bunyan-sized if, ) Michigan gets past the Spartans, Wolverines don't face an opponent this caliber until Penn State on Nov. .The schedule of an off week fol- ed by Illinois, Indiana and rthwestern is no easy feat. In 1996, tI m from the Big Ten's nether Ws, Purdue, stomped all over the lerines' Rose Bowl hopes with a 9- 'umph. at was in the second of Lloyd ri's four-loss seasons, and ever since Wolverines lost 17-14 to Alabama the Outback Bowl, big letdowns to e opponents simply haven't hap- ed. But big-time opponents have en the better of Michigan on a few ons. e the start of the 1997 season, ehigan is 27-3 - and no team has n better. And those three losses to these heavies: Notre Dame, cuse and Ohio State. f Michigan gets by the Spartans, the lvernes can look back on this game a defining moment, a time they 'rmed the potential they showed in season-opener against Notre Dame, backed up last week against fSparty brings the mammoth Paul yan trophy back to East Lansing the first time since 1995, this game ht be even bigger, for a reason higan and its fans would rather for- loss scuttles Michigan's legitimate onal title hopes and tamishes the -inspiring performance of the IyVrines' defense against two n hopefuls - Wisconsin's Ron ne and Purdue's Drew Brees. ut this game has implications far side this 1999 college football sea- .The bowl game and final record of h team will become a secondary bar to conversations that won't ur for decades. When Michiganders ak of this game five, 10, or even 50 rs from now, it will have been the est the game ever was. They'll ,er who ranfor that crucial Wwn, who cae up with the big rception, and who won. at happens later this season is aterial, in a way. The same goes for hing else happening at the same e. or three intense hours, this place, lions of Michiganders - and higanders at heart - will care osely about this particular chunk of ime and the outside world will t, Rick Freeman can be reached via e-mail at rickfree@umich.edu. Life imitates art Rate of syphilis at record low ATLANTA (AP) -Tle syphilis rate in the United States dropped 19 percent last year to an all-time low, the govern- ment reported yesterday as it launched a push to stamp out the sexually trans- mitted disease altogether. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the rate of new cases in 1998 was 2.6 per 100,000 people, down from 3.2 a year earlier. Half of the 6,993 cases reported came from 28 counties, or less than 1 percent of all US. counties. Most of the 28 counties were urban. About 80 percent of all counties reported no new cases. "Clearly we have wrestled syphilis to the ground, and now we have to put it in lockhold from which it won't escape," said Dr. Judith Wasserheit, director of the CDC's sexually trans- mitted disease prevention division. "We have an unprecedented window of opportunity to eliminate syphilis in the United States because rates are at an all-time low and because the dis- ease now is extremely concentrated geographically" The drop has been attributed, in part, to increased funding for treatment and safe-sex practices prompted by the out- break of AIDS, such as using condoms SHEPARD Continued from Page 1 Monday -- nationally recognized as National Coming Out Day - is "Red Shirt Day," when people wear red shirts to show support for members of the LGBT community. "It's a way to make a statement,' said LSA senior Luke Klipp. The Office of LGBT Affairs also plans to host a rally Monday on the Diag to celebrate LGBT identity. Participants will be able to "come out of the closet" if they want, Klipp said. Also on Monday, "Telling Ourselves to the World: A Reading ofComing Out and hasing fewer partners. The South had the highest rate at 5. 1 per 100,000 and accounted for 19 of the 28 counties that had the highest number of cases. The rate was higher among blacks - 17.1 per 100,000 compared with 0.5 among whites. But the disparity has narrowed since the beginning of this decade, when rates among blacks were 64 times those of whites. "Syphilis, like many other health prob- lems, tends to persist in communities that are plagued by a number of social prob- lems including poverty, lack of access to health care and racism, Wasserheit said. The syphilis rate has been declining in the United States since 1990, when it peaked at 50,578 cases, or 20.3 cases per 100,404. Syphilis is a bacterial infection that starts with painless sores and then a rash and can attack the heart and brain and cause dementia and death. It can be cured if treated early with antibiotics. Surgeon General David Satcher and CDC Director Jeffrey Koplan were to join other national and local public health officials in Nashville, Tenn., yes- terday to announce the CDC's new ini- tiative to eliminate syphilis. Stories from Life and Literature" spon- sored by the Lavender information and Library Assoctattotnatnd the Office of LGBT Affairs gives people the oppor- tunity to share and listen to stories about coming out experiences. Later in the week, the Office of LGBT Affairs plans to host other events, including a discussion titled "What's Morally Wrong with Homosexuality" on Tuesday and a film showing on Wednesday. Students interested in receiving isore inft-onation about National Coming Out Week events can cal the Office of LGBT Affairs at 763- 4186. L, f- A business executive studies hI .map in front of a Tokyo bookstore as he imitates a statue of Kinjiro Ninomiya, a Japanese symbol of study, yesterday. GAME DAY Continued from Page 1 ing into the game in more than 30 years. With both teams undefeated, the pre-game hype for this heated rivalry - which reaches high decibels in any given year - is at a fevered pitch on the eve of tomorrow's game. Whether it's around the office water cooler, on campus or over the phone, members of both factions are declar- ing war in their yearly quest for state bragging rights. "I think the intensity of this game is very special," Michigan coach Lloyd Carr said. "The state is probably pretty evenly divided. It's a game you know everybody on both sides wants to win very badly." Michigan has recent history on its side, winning the last three meetings with the Spartans. And since 1970, the Spartans have managed to beat their hated neighbors to the southeast just six times. Which means absolutely nothing to this year's partici- pants' "You throw out the records and you throw out thepast matchups, because it is such a big intrastate game," said Michigan nose tackle Rob Renes, a Holland, Mich. native. But with both teams entering the game at 5-0 for the first time in series history, there is much more at stake tomorrow than merely bragging rights. The Wolverines and the Spartans are each undefeated and enjoying lofty national rankings, so a loss tomorrow would be crushing to either team's hopes of a conference championship and beyond. "This year, because we're both 5-0, there is the extra added incentive," Renes said. "Whoever wins is still in the hunt for the Big Ten title and the national title." Michigan State usually isn't harboring national title hopes midway through the season, but this year's team has some in East Lansing ready to forget about last year's 6-6 effort that was left home for the bowl games. But Michigan State coach Nick Saban isn't going to let his players get distracted by hearing how good they are. "We need to separate all that surrounds this game from the team," Saban said. "We need to keep players separat- ed so they can focus on what they need to accomplish.' While Saban remains humbIle, Carr is extremely impressed with the team that his counterpart has assem- bled. The last time Carr saw a Michigan State squad this good was in 1987, when Michigan State went undefeated in the Big Ten - including a 17-11 victory over Michigan - en route to winning the Rose Bowl. "I can say clear-cut it's the best Michigan State team since 1987," Carr said. "They have a lot of weapons and they don't have any weaknesses. I think it's an outstand- ing team" There was similar hype here in East Lansing two years ago, when Michigan, undefeated and ranked No. 5, squared off with the 15th-ranked Spartans. The Wolverines came away with a 23-7 win, and went on to win the national championship. And after the Wolverines bested the Spartans again last year, 29-17, you can bet this year's upstart Michigan State team is looking to even the score. Michigan knows the Spartans will be out for blood, and welcomes the challenge. "This is truly the hardest hitting game I play every year," Michigan linebacker Ian Gold said. "What more could you ask for out of a big game?" And as far as Michigan-Michigan State goes, they don't get any bigger than this one. 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